August 7, 2024
There is much meaning to a name, and that is certainly true for our organization. During PALTC24 in San Antonio, TX, earlier this year, the House of Delegates voted unanimously to change the organization’s name to the Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association (PALTmed). “This name is inclusive and representative of all clinicians working in PALTC and truly reflects who we are, what we do, and what we stand for,” says Board President Rajeev Kumar, MD, FACP, CMD. “Our mission and vision for the organization have evolved over time, and more than ever, we care for patients and residents in a very competent and compassionate way through a multi-disciplinary team approach. We have become much more diverse and inclusive.”
The name change is the first step in an extensive rebranding and membership expansion campaign to transform the organization into THE association for all clinicians practicing in PALTC. PALTmed will continually evolve to meet the needs of members and empower them to serve their patients and residents. The name change, too, is part of an evolution. In 2014, the organization changed its name from the American Medical Directors Association to AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. “We kept the AMDA moniker because it was familiar to many people and was still part of our identity,” says Dr. Kumar.
However, the organization’s leadership continued to focus on creating a name that “is truly representative of our association and our diverse members but also stands for everything the organization does,” Dr. Kumar notes. An external consultant was engaged to conduct research and focus groups with board members (present and past), state chapter leaders, and others to understand what the organization means to them. Only after much study and consideration was the new name determined to “represent members’ wishes and everything we do and stand for,” he explains. “It sends a warm and welcoming message to all advanced practice professionals and doctorly prepared clinicians throughout the PALTC continuum who we engage with on a regular basis that we want them to be involved with our organization and our profession.”
This inclusivity isn’t new, as the association previously changed its bylaws to enable advanced practice professionals to be full members and hold positions on the board. At the same time, in recent years, a growing number of sessions at the annual conference have been interdisciplinary in nature, featuring nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, pharmacists, and others as speakers and panel members. “We are seeing more and more opportunities for collaboration between different disciplines and clinicians in PALTC, and that is represented in our programs and publications,” says Dr. Kumar.
The association’s history is grounded in medical direction, having been founded as a small group of nursing home physician leaders in 1977. While the organization has grown and evolved over the years to represent an entire field of medicine and practitioners that also includes attending physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, consultant pharmacists, and doctorly prepared clinicians, the medical directors still have a key role and an important home here. As Dr. Kumar observes, “More than ever, we need the medical director as the team leader guiding and nurturing their clinical colleagues.”
The evolution of the organization and the name change also address the changing demographics of PALTC, where increasing acuity, shorter lengths of stay, social determinants of health, and a move toward value-based medicine and new models of care are the norm. “We need to be responsive to all of these changes and keep our fingers on the pulse of new trends,” says Dr. Kumar. Ensuring all members have the tools, resources, information, advocacy, and education they need to provide quality care throughout the PALTC continuum is a top priority for the association; and the name change is a symbol of—not just lip service to—the association’s and its members’ evolving but unwavering commitment to PALTC.